Seattle apartment block faces demolition less than a decade after it was built.
Hundreds of residents are being unexpectedly forced out of a 9-year-old Seattle highrise after engineers found extensive structural defects so severe that the building will have to be demolished.
Those who live and work in the area said the scaffolding around the McGuire Apartments has been up so long, it’s become a fixture in the Belltown neighborhood. Renters in the building said when the property management company asked to meet with residents over the weekend, many expected an update on the repair work. Instead, they were told they had until the end of the year to vacate the 25-story building, which will have to be dismantled.
In a statement, the building owner, the Carpenter Tower LLC, blamed “extensive construction defects which are financially impractical to repair.”
Engineers said the problems are caused by the steel reinforcement used to reinforce the concrete. The cable ends weren’t sealed properly and then rusted and corroded.
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